Delhi HC disposes plea on delay in sanctions by the AAP Government in JNU sedition case

The Delhi High Court, on Wednesday disposed of the public interest litigation (PIL) against former Jawaharlal Nehru Unversity Students' Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar. The PIL was moved in the Delhi High Court on Tuesday seeking directions to the AAP government to grant sanction for prosecution of Kanhaiya Kumar in a sedition case.

"There is no need for further guidelines. There are enough guidelines. No reason to constitute a high power committee. The government has enough number of officers. As far as JNU sloganeering case is concerned, the petitioner has requested directions to the Delhi government to grant sanction. The government may act as per rules and regulations," the Division Bench headed by Chief Justice DN Patel said telling the AAP government to take the call and decide the issue as per law.

Read:PIL in HC for sanction to prosecute former JNUSU prez Kanhaiya Kumar

What the PIL stated

The PIL was filed by petitioner Nand Kishore Garg, a former BJP MLA along with his counsel, advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi, praying for an immediate grant of sanction for the trial of Kanhaiya Kumar and others arguing that the Delhi government is purposely delaying the sanction for the past one year owing to political prejudices. They alleged that by doing this the Delhi government becomes guilty of obstruction of justice which opposes any constitutional commitment that governments make at the time of oath-taking. They spoke about how in these times there is already a growing perception among the people that law is not applicable to all in the same manner and by delaying sanctions the AAP Government was fueling this thought process further. The request made by the council was to put in a high powered committee to look into the delays on the part of the government officials in the issuance of the sanction. 

Read:'No govt sanction to prosecute Kanhaiya Kumar yet': Police to court

Delay of Sanction

The public prosecutor had recently informed Patiala House court, where the case is pending, that the matter regarding grant of sanction is still pending to prosecute Kanhaiya Kumar and others in the JNU sedition case. Court had then adjourned the matter after the prosecutor informed that the Home Department had not given the sanction yet. The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) court had then further issued the summons to the investigating officer of the case and slated the matter for December 11. In the chargesheet filed in the court back in January, the Delhi Police had said there was a video footage wherein Kumar is "seen leading the students who were raising anti-national slogans" and that he had been identified by the witnesses in the videos. "The location of mobile phone at the place of occurrence" was also cited as evidence against Kumar in the 1200-page chargesheet. As part of other evidence, the police said the Forensic Science Laboratory had retrieved an SMS sent by Khalid to Kumar asking him to "arrive at Sabarmati Dhaba, JNU, as their permission had been canceled by the JNU administration".

Read:Kejriwal denies rejecting request for Kanhaiya Kumar's prosecution

(With ANI Inputs)